


it's not a side effect of jet lag, i am thinking it must be love

by ptrckstmp



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Airports, Based on a True Story, Fluff, M/M, That's it, airports and fluff, that's the whole story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 14:04:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4567314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ptrckstmp/pseuds/ptrckstmp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pete hadn't planned on falling in love today. But there he was sitting on a hard plastic chair in the Munich airport and he saw the most beautiful person probably ever and he just couldn't help it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's not a side effect of jet lag, i am thinking it must be love

**Author's Note:**

> this is basically a true story

Pete hadn’t  _planned_  on falling in love today. Pete had  _planned_  to just check out of his hotel, get through airport security without embarrassing himself too much, and get ready to settle in for a twelve hour flight home. He had already managed to do one of those things successfully (it wasn’t his fault that he had tripped trying to hurriedly pull his sneakers on while simultaneously gathering his laptop and backpack from the stupid conveyor belt and  _dammit_  if everyone could have chilled for  _one_   _second_  it’s not like it’s a fucking  _race_  to see who can get to their gate the fastest after getting through security), but he was having a little bit of trouble doing the third.

I guess you could say it all started when Pete woke up to find that his phone had not, in fact, been charging all night long like he wanted it to. So here he was, sitting on a hard plastic chair in the Munich airport, trying to soothe his bruised ego (and bruised knee), and thinking obsessively about the fact that his phone was 20% charged. How could he possibly survive a 12 hour flight with no phone? And he had learned not to just trust that the airplane would have a place to charge your phone--last time he did that he had nearly died of boredom. Pete held his phone in one hand, and his charging cord in the other, bouncing his knee and casting quick glances behind him, hoping that they guy using USB charging station would decide that his iPad was charged enough and allow some other people to charge their electronics.

Finally, finally, the guy unplugged his tablet, picked up his backpack, and wandered over to the food court to find nourishment before the flight from hell. Pete had to restrain himself from vaulting over the seat to reach the charging station, but he still managed to get there before anyone else did by simply walking around the chairs.

He breathed a sigh of relief and he plugged his phone in and heard the reassuring tone that meant his phone was charging. After checking (and double checking) to make sure that it was, in fact, charging, he set his phone down and, for the first time really since he arrived at the gate, looked around at his surroundings and fellow passengers.

Which brings us back to the fact that Pete hadn’t planned on falling in love today. But there, sitting right across from him, was the single most beautiful person Pete had ever seen in his life. He tried not to stare, he really did, but every time he tried to tear his eyes away, he found himself unsuccessful.

The man wasn’t conventionally gorgeous, definitely not drop-dead stunning. He didn’t look like anybody you would ever see on a magazine cover, or as the star of a teen heart throb movie. He wasn’t the guy you point out on the sidewalk to your friends, and definitely not the guy you’d have wet dreams about after seeing him make your coffee. But he was, without a doubt in Pete’s mind, the most beautiful person on this planet. God had truly outdone himself this time.

He was probably pretty short, but Pete couldn’t tell for sure because he was sitting down, and just a little bit chubby. His soft, fine, mousy brown hair fell across his forehead, and his eyes were like, three different colors all at once. He was reading a book, a paperbound with the front cover folded all the way back so that he could hold it in one hand, and absentmindedly chewing on his lower lip. Goddamn and those lips of his were obscenely pink and full, but Pete couldn’t imagine himself doing anything with them other than softly kissing them. The angel in front of him made him more romantically frustrated than sexually frustrated, and it wasn’t a feeling Pete was exactly used to, but he knew he was one he definitely prefered.

So here Pete sat, staring not so subtly at the beautiful human across from him and desperately wishing he had the nerves to start a conversation. There was an older woman sitting next to Pete’s newfound soulmate, and she tapped him on the shoulder to ask him the time. The boy looked up from his book and smiled at the woman, and Pete’s heart melted so much he could practically feeling it dripping into his lungs. Maybe that would explain why he was having such a hard time breathing.

The boy looked at his phone, and then relayed the information to the woman. He voice was soft and happy and oh god Pete could feel his heart in his spleen now. He watched as the two exchanged some small talk, enamored by the way his soulmate (they were soulmates, Pete was pretty fucking sure) would use his hands to talk, and the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled.

Pete thought he heard the sound of Jesus’ second coming for a second, but it turns out that they boy’s laugh just sounds a lot like he imagines a choir of the heavenly hosts would sound.

And then the boy was setting his book down, and asking the lady to watch his backpack for him (“don’t worry, there’s not even anything valuable in it” he told her, “I’m just fond of my pin collection and would rather it not be stolen”). He stood up and headed towards the bathrooms. Pete realized that they would be boarding soon. This realization come with an uncomfortable jolt. They would be boarding soon and then Pete would never see this beautiful boy again.

So Pete did what he does best and acted impulsively and spontaneously. He pulled his notebook out of his bag and scrawled a note and his number on it. Then he ripped the page out, folded it in half, and addressed it to “the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen”.

He cleared his throat. The old lady looked over at him. “Um, excuse me but…” he hesitated, knowing he was going to sound sort of creepy here, “would you mind putting this into that boy’s book?” He held the note out to her and felt a flush crawl up his neck onto his face. She took it from him, eyeing him rather suspiciously, before opening it. Her eyes lit up as she scanned over it, and then she folded it again quickly, realizing she had breached Pete’s privacy.

“Sure thing honey.” She said, smiling as she slipped it in next to the boy’s bookmark. “I hope it works out.”

Pete just stared at his hands in his lap, too anxious and socially awkward to look at her.

The boy came back and the old lady grinned at him. The boy gave a half hearted smile back, obviously confused at her what could only be described as “enthusiastic smiling”. Pete felt nervous butterflies in his stomach, and hoped that the boy wouldn’t open the book and find the note while Pete was still sitting there. He might die from embarrassment. What if this beautiful creature wasn’t even into dudes?

But the boy just picked up his book and slung his bag over his shoulder, right as boarding groups 1 and 2 were told they could board.

“Have a good flight.” He said to the lady he’d been talking to, before he walked over to board the plane.

Pete really really hoped he’d see him again.

 

~

 

Patrick settled down into his seat and put his headphones in. preparing himself for the long flight back home. As much as he’d loved visiting his aunt and uncle in Germany, he was more than ready to get home to his vinyl collection and his puppy. Penny had probably missed him terribly.

He pulled his book back out, it was something his aunt had insisted he read, despite the fact that it looked like some boring teen romance novel, and opened it up to the page where he left off. A folded piece of paper fell out onto his lap, and Patrick picked it up, looking around his suspiciously and feeling for all the world like he was in some terrible movie and that the paper would tell him some terrible secret that he’d rather not know.

He turned it over and saw “to the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen” scrawled across the front. His heart rate picked up and he furrowed his brow, confused. He unfolded it and read it once, then twice, then three times, just to make sure he had read it correctly.

 

_hi. you don’t know me and i’m sorry if this is a little bit creepy, but i’m the guy who was sitting across from you while we were waiting to board. you probably didn’t even notice me and this is probably really weird and i’m sorry again, but i just couldn’t live with myself if i never told you this so here goes. you are, honest to god, the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen. you know that book by roald dahl about the mean people with the monkeys or whatever? probably not, but it was one of my favorites as a kid. anyway, there’s a quote in that book about how nice people can never be ugly, even if they have a wonky nose and stick out teeth because it’ll be like sunbeams are shining out of their face and they can never look ugly. good news for you, you niether have a wonky nose nor stick out teeth, in fact, your teeth are very nice and by the way your eyes are just amazing (oh my god i’m sorry this is creepy) but i can tell you’re a nice person because you’re just so goddamn beautiful. like, forget sunbeams shining out of your face, you have the entire fucking sun in your body i think. anyway, i just knew i’d regret it if i never told you how beautiful i thought you were. i swear i’ve never seen a more beautiful human in my life and i’m sorry if that’s like creepy or whatever shit but it’s true and i thought you should know._

_and if you’re final destination is L.A. and you’re not totally creeped out by this letter and you don’t mind going on dates with dudes then it’d be pretty cool if you could call me or something._

 

Beneath it he had left his name (Pete) and his number, and Patrick felt bad because he didn’t remember seeing this guy, and he wasn’t sure that this letter was actually supposed to go to him and he felt his heart thumping against his chest and his face flush red and what the hell, it couldn’t hurt to just text Pete when he landed right?

 

~

 

Pete had tried to sleep and when that didn’t work he had tried to watch some movies, but he just couldn’t stay focused because all he could think about was the beautiful boy worrying his lip in his teeth and the way he bent forward slightly when he laughed, and the way he would occasionally run his fingers through his hair and by the time the plane had landed Pete had written so much in his notebook that he was sure he could write an entire album about the boy.

He got off the plane, feeling groggy and out of sorts. LAX was busy and bustling, it was about 4 pm here, and he was feeling glad that he had packed everything into a carry-on suitcase so he wouldn’t have to try and find his way to baggage claim.

He stepped outside and turned his phone off airplane mode so that he could call Joe and make sure he was here to pick him up. As soon as he did his phone buzzed with a message. He unlocked it, expecting it to be from Joe, or maybe Andy, but was surprised to find it was from a number he didn’t know.

_hi pete. i have read the twits, but i think my personal favorite roald dahl book is the witches. i’ve always really liked mice honestly_

it buzzed again with another message from the same number

_if you’re free sometime this next week I know some good coffee shops in la_

and then Pete finally understood who it was and his heart jumped into his throat and he nearly screamed with joy.

_my name’s patrick, by the way, and your letter made me blush_

Pete stared open mouthed as his phone. He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that the beautiful boy had texted him.

_hi patrick im pete. tuesday works for me? (and pls dont bring ur pet mice)_

it buzzed again just a moment later.

 _i make no promises ;) and tues sounds great. i’ll text you the address when i get home. i look forward to meeting you :)_  

Pete just grinned and typed out a reply.

_i cant wait :) :) :)_

 

**Author's Note:**

> i s2g she was the most beautiful girl i've ever seen and she had the cutest German accent and i just sat and stared at her for like half an hour and everything she did was beautiful and perfect and then, unlike the story, she boarded the plane and i never saw her again. but i still think about her a lot. 
> 
> also the plane did have a place to charge my phone but hey //shrugs// better safe than sorry i guess


End file.
